Unit system for player-pianos



L. H. PRAY.

um. SYSTEM Foa PLAYER PlANos. I

APPLICATION FILED AUG-10| 1920.

1,401,730, l Patented Dw.27,1921.

LOUIS H. PRAY, 0F MEDFORD, MASSACHUSETTS.

UNIT SYSTEM FOR PLAYER-PIANOS.

iffromso.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Bec. 2?, it-2i.

Application led August 10, 1920. Serial No. 402,648.

To all whom it may concern.'

Be it known that I, LoUrs H. PRAY, a citizen of the United States of America, and a resident of Medford, in the county of Middlesex and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improve-v ments in Unit Systems for Player-Pianos, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to player pianos and has for its object the provision of means adapted to be adjusted to any make and size of upright piano whereby such piano may be provided with an automatic player system.

The invention consists Aprimarily in an adjustable support to be secured to the interior of a piano and a. plurality of units adjustably mounted on said support, the number of units being equal to number of keys in the piano and each unit consisting of selfcontained mechanism for actuating a hammer coacting with one of the strings of the piano action.

The, invention consists further of the means for securing said units to said support.

The invention consists also in certain novel features of construction and arrangement of parts which will be understood readily by reference to the description of the drawings and to the claims to be hereinafter given.

For the purpose of illustrating the invention, one preferred form thereof is illustrated in the drawings, this form having been found to give satisfactory and reliable results although it is to be understood that the various instrumentalities of which the invention consists can be variously arranged and organized and the invention is not limited to the precise arrangement and organization of these instrumentalities as herein shown anddescribed, except as required by the scope of the appended claims.v

Of the drawings- Figure 1 represents a side elevation of a unit embodying the principles of the presentY invention applied to a supporting bar shown in section.

Fig. 2 represents a vertical section of the same.

Fig. 3 represents a horizontal section on line 3, 3,`on Fig. 2.

Figa represents a Y horizontal section on line 4,' 4, on Fig. 2.

Fig. 5 represents a plan of a portion of' the supporting and the supports therefor showing a unit secured to said and Fig. 6 represents a front elevation of tue same, portions of which are shown in section.

Similar characters indicate like parts throughout the several figures of the drawings.

In the drawings, 10 is a metal bar provided with a longitudinal V-shaped upward bend 11v extending longitudinally thereof.

rllhe front edge of said bar is provided with a downwardly extending flange 12 while the rear edge thereof is provided with a downwardly extending L-shaped flange 13.

rThis bar may be cut in any suitable length to accommodate it to various styles and sizes of pianos.

Fach end of the bar 10 is provided with a slot le preferably extending to the outer end thereof.

Positioned in the slot la is a clamping bolt 15 mounted in the horizontal portion of 16 of a bracket 17 having a vertical slot 18 therein.

In the vertical slot 18 are one or more clamping members 19 mounted in the fixed member 2O which may be the side wall of a piano or a portion of a framework mounted in said piano.

By means of this construction the supporting bar 10 ma y be adjusted vertically' to locate it properly for the actuating parts of the piano action.

By adjustment of the suppoitiiwd bar on the end brackets 16, 17, the bar may be accommodated to various lengths of pianos.

W'hen once adjusted the supporting bar 10 is securely clamped to the horizontal portion 16 of the bracket 17 and the said brackets 17 are securely clamped to the members 20 at the opposite ends of the piano.

Only one end of the bar and its supporting bracket is shown in the drawings, it. being believed to be unnecessary to show the entire length and the construction at the opposite end as this construction is simply a duplication of the construction shown in Figs. 5 and 6 of the drawings.

rlhe front flange 12 of the supporting bar Y 10 is adapted to be positioned in a trans verse slit 21 in the upper face of a block 22 while the horizontal portion of the rear L-shaped ilange 13 is adapted to extend into a groove 23 in the rear end of the block 22. j

The upper face o.L the block 22 has secured thereto, a pad 24 of felt or some similar yielding substance which pad extends over the end of the said block and into the upper part of the groove. 23 as indicated in Fig. 2 of the drawings.

llVhenthe block is positioned relatively to the supporting bar l0 as indicated in Figs. land 2 of the drawings, the pad 2li is slightly compressed and thereby causes sufficient friction between the two meinbei's to prevent one accidentali' moving relatively tov the other.

By means of a screw oifother holding member 25, a spring clip 26' is secured to the upper face of the forward end of the block 22, this clip extending toward the rear of the bloclr 22 and being adapted to engage with the highest part shaped bend il thereby irinly retaining the block 22 in position on said supporting bar l0.

The blocks 22- may be adjusted longitudinally of the supporting bar l0 and when moved into any desired position thereon they are retained in such adjusted position by means of the spring clip v26 and the front aiidrearilangesll2 and 13. v Y

When it is desired to remove the block from the supporting bar, a downward pressure upon the frontend of the bloclr willv cause the spring clip 26 to yield sufficiently to allow the front flange 12 to be removed from the transverseslit2l and Whensaid flange has been removed, a forward pull upon the block 22 will disengage the block from the L- shaped rear iiange 1,3.

lt is'obvious therefore, that the blocks 22 may be moved upon the supportingbar into any'desired position to accommocate them to the variousostyles of piano actions and retained in adjusted position without using securing screws or other rri'embersi which must be removed when itisdesired to re- Y. move a bloclr for any reason. Each block-is a separatefunit and may be removed freni Y. the supp,orting bar without disturbing'l any ofthe other units and as means is i provided whereby VsuchV removal may bem'ade towardfthe front ofthe piano, the'otherparts of the operating device will not be disturbed.

The block 22'itselfispreferably made up of a plurality of layers of material.

VThev upper layer 27 of the block 22 is provided with a cylindrical port 28 opposite the vJ-shaped bend lZilin the supporting bar l0.

Airis adapted to enter through-the port 28into al chamber 29 formed in the layer 30 'immediately beneath the layer 27.

Thislaye'r 30 liasalso formed therein a Passage CQrmuCa-ieavi Mined Girlie ifioi 73o drical openings 32 formed in the middleflayer 33 and the lower layers 34 and 35.

The opposite end of the passage formed by said cylindrical openings 32 communicatesv with a bellows or pneumatic hinged at 36 to the lower layer 35 and composed'in part of a. movable plate 37 connected to ln the layer33 and alined with theV port 28 is a connecting port 40, the .loweraend of which communicates with a chamber 4l' from the forward end of which extends a passage e2 communicating with a passage 4:3 inl the upper end of which is a tubular member la the upper end of which is adapted to receive a flexible tube l5 of rubber or some similar material. the opposite end of which extends to and communicates with thev usual vacuum chest.

The upper face of the lower layer 35 is provided with a depression 46 with theY forward end of which communicates a passage il?. .fr tubular metal pipe L18 communicates with the forward end ofthe passage Il? and has an upward bend therein the upper end of which is'adapted to receive one Yend of a` reirible tube i9 of rubber or some similar iiiiderial7 the opposite end of which communicates with one of the openings inthe usual tracler board. l

The upper end of the depression Sis closed by a exible diaphragm 50 secured at its edge to the upper face of the layer 35 and superimposed upon this diaphragm 50 and preferably secured thereto is a` stiniening plate 5l having` an upwardly extending post 52, the upper end of which projects through the connecting port 40 with its eXtreme upper end slightly below of the layer 33.

V'lhis layer 33 has ertending upwardly o guide pms 53.ber; A

therefrom, a plurali, tween which is a kdish` valve 54, the upper aid-lower faces of which are faced with rlhis is of some importance as devices of this class are liable to become inoperative by being clogged with dust and'it isd eV ne rear end of the'hinged movable plate the upper surface having a small central ventas iin .'llFl ubier 55 as indicates. in Figi 2.- ofthe Y' sirable to provide means for readily cleaning out the passages wit-hout disturbing the various operating parts.

By making the block 22 of a plurality of laminated layers, the construction of the block is greatly facilitated as each layer may be quickly provided with the various ports, chambers and depressions and then all of the layers may be assembled and glued together making a suitable block. i

lvl] hen these layers have been thus secured together, the sides thereof have glued thereto, sheets 59 of liber-board or some similar material.

The operation of the device is as follows:

A piano having been selected, the brackets 17 are securet to end frames 2O and 'adjusted vertically so that the supporting bars 10 will be at the desired height and these supporting bars 1() are aojustably secured to the brackets 17 so that said bars extend the entire length of the piano.

l/Vhile only one bar 1() is shown in the drawings, it is obvious that in installing the player mechanism two supporting bars would be used one above the other.

A. unit is then selected for each string of the piano and these are mounted upon the supporting bars 10 and adjusted lengthwise thereof so that the member 89 of each unit will be in position to actuate a hammer actuating rod forming a part of the piano action.

The various units are then connected by means of the rubber tubes l5 and 49 to the vacuum chest and the tracker board.

When thus connected and one of the openings in the tracker board is uncovered or exposed7 air will be admitted to the tubular member 4S and passing through the passage /17 and depression e6 will force the diaphragm 51 upwardly and thereby cause the post 52 to lift the valve 54C and close the port 28 while uncovering the port 40.

As a consequence of this liftingof the valve 5, a communication from the vacuum chest is made through the tubular member 4e; passages 4 3 and 12, chamber 41, port e0., chamber 29, passages 31 and 32 to the interior of the pneumatic or bellows 37-38 secured to the lower portion of the block 22.

The suction through these passages and chambers will thereupon cause the bellows to becollapsed and the projection 39 from the rear end of the plate 37 will be consequently moved upwardly to actuate the haiAV mer of the piano action.

wWhen the tracker board opening is again covered., the pneumatic or bellows 37-38 returns to its normal position the air beneath the diaphragm 51 being discharged through the vent 58 thus permitting the diaphragm 51 to move downwardly together with the post 52,

The lowering of the post 52 will permit the valve 54 to drop into the position indicated in Fig. 2 of the drawings and then atmosj'iheric air will pass through the port 28, chamber 29, passages 31, 32 into the interior of the bellows or pneumatic 37-38 returning the plate 8T of said pneumatic to its lowermost position as indicated in Fig. 2 of the drawings preparatory to another operation thereof.

rlhis makes a simple construction of unit which may be made economically and the means provided for mounting the various units upon a supporting bar is most effective.

1t is believed that from the foregoing description, the operation and many advantages of the present invention will be readily understood.

`Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. A supporting bar having a stiffening rib extending lengthwise of the top face thereof; and detachably secured thereto a plurality of hammer-actuating units adjustable endwise of said bar and each having a spring member extending over and coacting with said stiifening rib.

2. A supporting bar comprising a` plate having an upwardly extending reverse bend extending lengthwise thereof; and detachably secured thereto a plurality of hammer-actuating units adjustable endwise of said bar.

8. A supporting bar having an inclined aortion on its upper face and extending lengthwise thereof; a plurality of hammeractuating units; and a clamping spring secured to the forward part of each unit for retaining said unit in adjusted position on said bar, the free end of said clamping spring extending over and coacting with the inclined portion of said bar.

Ll. A supporting bar having an L-shaped lian ge proj ecting` downwardly from one edge thereof; aplurality of hammer-actuating units, each having at one end thereof a slot to engage said flange; and a spring secured to each unit and engaging the upper part of said bar to retain said unit ink adjusted position.

5. 'A supporting bar having an Lshaped flange projecting downwardly from one edge thereof and a downwardly extending flange at the opposite edge; a plurality of hammer-actuating units, each having at one end thereof aI slot to engage said L-shaped flange and a slit in its upper part to reecive said downwardly extending flange; and a spring secured to each unit and engaging the upper part of said bar to retain said unit in acjusted position.

6. A supporting bar having a longitudinal flange at the rear edge thereof; a plurality of hammer-actuating units adapted to be adjusted independently lengthwise of 7. A supporting bar having a. longitudinal flange atV the rear edge thereoand a downwardly extendlng flange at its front edge;

a plurality of hammer-actuating units adapted# to be'y adjusted independently lengthwise of said bar, each ,unit having a depressionr in the rear end thereof to reoeive said rear rflange andv a groove inthe.

top thereor" to receive the front-flange; and e spring clip secured to the forward upper Side or" each unit nd extending rea-r-v wrvrdly in Contact with said bar, Wherelov` ezieh unit may be moved independently tof'rltl t L`th nll 'd mnd le nonno u e plano an( cisengage from said supporting' bar.

Signed by me at '746-7 Old South Bldg.,V

`Boston, Mass. 7 this 7th day of August, 1920.

Y LOUIS HL PRAY.

lVitnesses WALTER E. LOMBARD, MAZIE W. KIMBALL. 

